Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Cultural Heritage and Faith

The lines are getting blurrier
and blurrier.

The U.S. Constitution
codified an Americanized version of British Common Law tradition that went all
the way back to the 11th century and became the basis for the American identity and a culture that, for good or
ill, has been unique in human history.

Now that identity is disappearing in America; drowning under wave after wave of unassimilated
immigrants. This is not a new development. It has been going on for decades but
has been steadfastly ignored by the political class. Republicans are happy
because their corporate benefactors profit from cheap labour and continue to
prop up their fading political hopes. Democrats are happy because immigrants
and welfare dependents swell the ranks of potential Democrat voters.

Everyone (except perhaps the
American middle class) benefits, so it is thought. Why rock the boat?

Well, the boat is
rocking now. And we might wonder what the attitude of the American Christian
caught in the middle of the culture wars really ought to be.

The ‘R’ Word

Any honest analysis of
the brewing hostilities across the border requires pointing out that race is
very much at issue. The “melting pot” concept of America only works when:
(i) the cultural preferences and allegiances of those who cross its
borders are subsumed over time in the American identity; and (ii) when
there is an actual American identity into which they may be subsumed.

Neither is any longer
the case, if it ever truly was. U.S. Immigration, legal and illegal, is at a level
such that true assimilation has been impossible for decades. And the cultural
confidence of white-and-assimilated America has been shattered by an increasing
polarization in vision between the political Left and Right. When push comes to
shove, many new “Americans” identify primarily with their country of origin, rather
than as citizens of the U.S.A.

So what is the “American
identity” today? Who knows?

Race has always been
an issue for American minorities and for the political Left, the greatest beneficiary of professional victimhood and grievance-mongering.
But now race is rapidly becoming the only issue that matters for white Americans who are paying
attention to what is happening around them. American Christians with
Anglo-Saxon roots are being offered the choice between being pawns of the Left
or the Right; of accepting the increasingly unsustainable cultural status quo
in the name of Christian tolerance and colourblindness, or else becoming militant
in defence of home and country.

But those with wives
and/or children to care for must still make some very practical decisions in
times of crisis: where to live; whether to defend themselves and if so, how;
whether to run or fight; how to deal with militants who insist they take sides and family members who elect to do so; the question
of whether they owe greater allegiance to the federal government or the state
government in the event there is civil unrest; and so on.

If this sounds
alarmist, bear in mind that a significant number of American believers are
already debating these issues online, and more than a few of these are well armed.

When two sides go to
war, the first casualties are often the would-be peacemakers on the fence
hoping the problem will just go away. But here there are not two sides. The
U.S. situation is complicated by multiple racial factions with agendas at
cross-purposes to one another. Whether this makes it more or less dangerous
for those who don’t choose a side remains to be seen.

In the coming decade, American
Christians are likely to be pushed in directions they do not expect and in
which they would rather not go.

The Culture Wars are Nothing New

One thing we need to
remember in the middle of all this is that the battle for political and
cultural dominance is far from uniquely American. Ancient history records
numerous examples of one culture dominating or absorbing another: the Greeks by
the Romans, the Medo-Persians by the Greeks; the Chaldeans by the Medo-Persians
and the Assyrians by the Chaldeans, just for starters. Modern history echoes
similar themes.

Most of us cannot even
imagine such things as we have lived through decades of relative peace, but
they are very much common to man.

The early church lived
through a time of similar tension. Jerusalem fell to the Romans in AD 70, less than 40 years after Jesus was crucified and probably before the last
book of the New Testament was written. First century Jerusalem was riddled with racial and cultural tension.

So where should the
Christian’s priorities lie? Acts 6 records two very different responses to
issues of culture and faith:

1. Hellenists vs. Hebrews

In case we think the first century Christians
never came up against the race/culture issue, Luke records for us a significant disagreement within the church in Jerusalem:

“Now in these days when the disciples
were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the
Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily
distribution.”

The Greek-speaking Jews and the Hebrew-speaking
Jews were at odds. Canadians who have worked alongside their fellow citizens
born in Quebec can probably relate. There are significant language and culture
differences, even though we are both technically “Canadians”, and these can
easily become sources of conflict: “You racist, you’re just saying that
because I’m French!” and so on. Now such an accusation may be true, and it may
even have sometimes been true in the early church. Cultural allegiances are not
always easy to shake off.

“It is not right that we should give up
preaching the word of God to serve tables.”

While the cultural issue was potentially divisive,
it would not have been right (aretos,
or “pleasing”) to prioritize it above the preaching of the word of God, and the apostles made it very clear they did not intend to. It was necessary to find a way to resolve the culture-based issue without disrupting the
primary purpose of the church. The Kingdom of God must come first.

Luke records that (i) the position of
the apostles on the issue was received positively by Hebrews and Greek-speakers
alike; (ii) a method was found to deal with the problem; and
(iii) the word of God continued to increase.

Short version: Faith trumps culture every
time, and we need to be sure not to forget it.

But culture and faith clash again later in
the same chapter.

2. Hatred That Trumps the Cultural Agenda

Stephen was doing wonders and signs among
the people of Jerusalem. His preaching drew the attention of several
communities of Jews from Africa, Egypt and different parts of Asia that banded
together to falsely accuse Stephen before the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Amazing how opposition to faith can also
trump the cultural agenda, isn’t it? These groups, despite being racially and
culturally different, found common cause in their hatred of Christians.

Notice that they knew exactly which buttons
to press with the Sanhedrin, and these buttons were also cultural. The false witnesses said:

“We have heard him say that this Jesus of
Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs
that Moses delivered to us.”

They mention the temple, about which every
Jew was both proud and highly sensitive, and then for good measure they throw
in the accusation that Stephen intended to “change the customs that Moses
delivered”.

“Oh no! Our culture is under siege!”

I wonder where we’ve heard that one before …

Learning
from History

What can we learn from the experience of
the early church? It would seem Satan is happy to introduce race and culture at
every possible turn: as a distraction, as a way of stirring up dissension, as a
way of turning the world against believers. Where the Lord would have his followers
learn to put aside such differences in our valuation of one another, Satan would be delighted if we never
forget them.

William Macdonald says this about first century Christians:

“[The early Christians] did not engage in the politics of this world. Why? No explanation is given. But this much is clear: they were people of one purpose — to preach the gospel of Christ. They gave themselves to this task without distraction. They must have believed that the gospel is the answer to man’s problems. This conviction was so strong that they could not be satisfied with subordinate approaches, such as politics.”

The culture wars are here, and they’re not
going away any time soon. Very soon, Christians may be facing some hard choices.
Stick to your principles and, like Stephen, you may find yourself labeled
a traitor.